


a different choice

by firefliesandstarlight



Category: Supernatural
Genre: :D, AU, Alternate Universe, Comments appreciated, Complete, Destiel-ish, F/M, Finished, M/M, Supernatural Season 15, What Ifs, What if?, had the idea randomly and I sat down and actually wrote it, havent written in a while so, im actually kinda proud?, sorry for any typos lol, spn au, wrote this in a half an hour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:16:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22852369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefliesandstarlight/pseuds/firefliesandstarlight
Summary: the world looks a lot different if sam doesn’t go with dean to look for their father all the way back in 2005.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	a different choice

**Author's Note:**

> hope y’all like it! I was trying to think of major plot points over the seasons off the top of my head, so my apologies for any inaccuracies.

A choice. 

That’s all it came down to. 

Fifteen years of monsters and magic and winning and losing and love, all came down to a choice. 

2005\. Sam Winchester, a student at Stanford, living with his girlfriend. His brother pulls up in a ‘67 Chevy Impala that still looks brand-new one night, all leather jackets and sure smiles. Just as Sam remembers him. 

The brother— Dean— says that their father is away on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days. Unusual, even for him. 

Dean asks Sam to help him find their father. 

And Sam, arm wrapped around his girlfriend’s shoulders, shock and sleep written across his face… 

Declines. 

He wishes Dean the best of luck, of course. Offers a phone number in case things go south, in case Dean ends up needing backup. 

But he stays right where he is. 

Years pass. Sam and his girlfriend— fiancée, now— have graduated, full honors. They’ve got a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, steady jobs, a 401k. 

Dean doesn’t stop hunting, but he doesn’t call the number, either. 

Sam has kept the phone with the number he gave Dean; replaces the battery every few years, just in case. Dean doesn’t call. 

It’s easy to forget. 

There is no car crash. John Winchester does not sell his soul for his eldest son; he has no reason to. He dies a few years down the road of a heart attack. Wasn’t the monsters that ended up getting him, after all. 

Sam attends his funeral. It’s not much, just a small church, couple of old friends. And Dean. 

Dean was never one to cry. Always hold it in, don’t bother anyone with your crap seemed to be his motto. But he had to work hard to hide his red-rimmed eyes and stuffy nose at the service. And even as he hugged Sam, said a gruff “Good to see you, man,” he couldn’t stop a few tears escaping. 

Jess was there. Sam’s girlfriend from college. Fiancée. But Dean noticed a ring on Sam’s finger, too. 

It hurt. Sammy got married, and Dean wasn’t there. But Dean didn’t let it show. On the way out, he congratulated them, made a halfhearted comment about how it was bad timing for him to be celebrating but he was happy for them nonetheless. 

Sam does not die of a stab wound through his spine just after his 24th birthday. Dean doesn’t sell his soul, doesn’t go to hell. The seals never broken, the apocalypse never starts. Castiel never has to raise Dean from hell. 

Dean never meets Cas. 

Lucifer is not freed from the cage. Sam never loses his soul. Cas never absorbs souls, never unleashes the Leviathans, never goes to purgatory with Dean. 

Sam never meets Amelia. He has Jess. They’re happy, safe. Welcoming their first child in a few months. 

Just because Sam doesn’t hunt doesn’t mean he isn’t careful. Shotgun shells full of salt sit on the top shelf of the closet he shares with Jess. There’s iron in every room, he made sure. 

He hears rumors, sometimes. An old friend will come into town, and they’ll sit down and have a cup of coffee. 

He hears about Dean. 

The legendary Winchester. 

Not the Winchester brothers. Though that possibility doesn’t ever really occur to Sam. 

Dean defeated an entire nest of vamps in Missouri all on his own, no backup. 

Dean took on a haunted hospital and saved hundreds of patients. 

Dean drove to Seattle and fought a wraith. Even when he’s not in his right mind, Dean Winchester can take down the most powerful monsters. 

Dean came across a demon in New York. It only took him three and a half hours to figure out how to kill it. 

It’s 2020 when the phone— nearly fifteen years old, now,— rings. Sam hadn’t even realized he was waiting for it to. He picks it up with trembling fingers. 

It’s not Dean. 

It’s Bobby. John Winchester’s old friend. Sam hasn’t seen him in forever. 

Dean’s been hurt, Bobby says. Bad. He’s in a hospital in Ohio. Critical condition. Sam might want to get up there. 

Sam’s in his car before Bobby’s finished talking. 

He finds the address Bobby texted him with ease. It’s the biggest hospital in Ohio, apparently. But it’s got long white hallways and mind-breaking patterned carpet and room after room of hurt or sick or dying, just like the rest. 

Dean’s in room S-15. He’s got tubes down his throat and a heart monitor beeping rhythmically beside him. 

The doctors tell Sam that Dean’s only just pulled through. He’s not out of the woods yet, but his chances are getting better. 

Sam fills out the insurance forms with his own information. 

Dean wakes up two days later. He’s got scars Sam doesn’t remember, and he looks older. Tired. But he’s still Dean. 

“Hey, man. How’re you feeling?” 

“How do you think?” Dean cracks a smile, though it looks like it hurts him even more than it does Sam. “Like crap. How’s Jess?” 

They talk for a while. Smile, laugh. Try not to cry. Dean’s different than Sam remembers him. Sam’s different, too, but it’s difficult to see yourself change when you look in a mirror every day. Dean notices, but he doesn’t say a word. 

Sam wonders aloud what would’ve been different if he’d been with Dean. They laugh, going on a tangent of what-ifs. 

Neither of them mention that night in 2005. 

It’s doubtful either of them remember it, would even think to mention it. 

A doctor comes in with the results of a few of the tests they did on Dean. Sam leaves the room. 

The Winchester Brothers still share a heaven, but it is full of memories of each other they would not recognize. 

2005\. Sam Winchester, a student at Stanford, living with his girlfriend. His brother pulls up in a ‘67 Chevy Impala that still looks brand-new one night, all leather jackets and sure smiles. Just as Sam remembers him. 

The brother— Dean— says that their father is away on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days. Unusual, even for him. 

Dean asks Sam to help him find their father. 

And Sam, arm wrapped around his girlfriend’s shoulders, shock and sleep written across his face… 

Says 

Yes. 

Fifteen years later, they’re fighting God, side by side. Dean’s got his angel, Sam’s got Eileen, and the Winchester Brothers share a heaven full of memories of a lifetime shared. 

The way it was always meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you!! comments appreciated :D


End file.
